WORD COUNT 534                                                                                                                                                                            MAY 13, 2008

MOVING TOWARD A BOTTOM-UP ECONOMY – by Steve Schnapp 

It’s been almost eight months since the financial crisis became a reality. It’s also six months since the election of President Obama, who made a campaign promise to rebuild the economy from the bottom up. But now, 100 days into his administration, we’re not much closer to a bottom-up economy. 

In fairness, such a major restructuring will require much more than 100 days. It will also require major involvement from the grassroots folks who helped get Obama elected. 

According to a new workshop on the economic crisis developed by the organization I work for, United for a Fair Economy, a bottom-up system is one that works well for those at the bottom. That would be a significant departure from the long-standing tradition of catering to the needs of the wealthy – and pretending that income and wealth will trickle down. Yet, already in the first 100 days, we see that much of the administration’s work has gone into placating the wealthy and powerful, particularly the high rollers on Wall Street. 

If we want to help President Obama do the right thing and begin to build from the bottom up, we need to understand what’s wrong and how it could be changed. The overriding problem is that the rules of our system are rigged. A market-based economy tends to consolidate its benefits at the top. And, since economic power has also resulted in political power, policy decisions have only sped up moving the benefits upward. 

So while it seems as if the buildup to the economic meltdown happened within the past year, it’s actually the result of policies that have been in effect for more than a generation. Anti-labor and small government initiatives enacted over the past forty years removed many of the measures that were supposed to level the economic playing field and protect Americans from another catastrophe like the Great Depression. Unregulated private investment and sub-prime mortgages led to housing and financial services bubbles that enabled a few executives and investors to make astronomical profits.  

No wonder there is such broad-based outrage about the greed of Wall Street at the expense of Main Street. 

In contrast, a bottom-up economy would level the playing field in all respects. It would be designed to be equitable, democratic, sustainable, and pluralistic. It would prize people over profits and the planet over the rule of the market.  

But for such deep, fundamental change to happen, the people most negatively impacted by these policies need to invest in the reform movement. If they don’t take responsibility for the formation of a bottom-up economy, low-income and non-wealthy folks will continue to be marginalized. The President can’t do it on his own. 

That’s why it is imperative for average people to learn how to address these issues on a mass movement scale. Being informed is an important first step to shaping a more fair and equitable economy.   

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Steve Schnapp is a Senior Education Specialist at United for a Fair Economy and curriculum designer of the organization’s new workshop, “Bankers, Brokers, Bubbles & Bailouts; the Causes and Consequences of the Financial Crisis.” www.faireconomy.org.

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